2024 Events - Adult Authors

Location: Haddon & Frazer Aves.

10 a.m. Lorene Cary (Ladysitting)

Lorene Cary is the author of the memoirs Ladysitting and Black Ice, three novels, and a book for young readers. She teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and has written a one-act opera of Ladysitting and a play, My General Tubman. She lives in Philadelphia

11 a.m. Eric Weiner (Ben & Me)

Eric Weiner is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. His books include The Geography of Bliss, The Geography of Genius, Man Seeks God, and The Socrates Express. His latest book, Ben & Me (published by Avid Reader Press in June 2024) is a guide to living and thinking well, as Ben Franklin did. It is also about curiosity, diligence, and, most of all, the elusive goal of self-improvement. As Weiner follows Franklin from Philadelphia to Paris, Boston to London, he attempts to uncover Ben’s life lessons, large and small.

12 p.m. Amy Jo Burns (Mercury)

Amy Jo Burns is the author of the memoir Cinderland and the novel Shiner, which was a Barnes & Noble Discover Pick, NPR Best Book of the year, and “told in language as incandescent as smoldering coal,” according to The New York Times. Her latest novel, Mercury, is a Barnes & Noble Book Club Pick, a Book of the Month Pick, a People Magazine Book of the Week, and an Editor’s Choice selection in The New York Times. 

1 p.m. Keith O’Brien (Charlie Hustle) with Ellen Adair (moderator)

Charlie Hustle tells the full story of one of America’s most epic tragedies, the rise and fall of Pete Rose, one of the greatest baseball players of all time. The New York Times Book Review has hailed O’Brien for his “keen reportorial eye” and “lyrical” writing style. He has written two books, been a finalist for the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sportswriting and contributed to National Public Radio for more than a decade.

Keith will be joined by Ellen Adair, an actor best known for her recurring roles on The Sinner, Homeland, Billions, and The Slap. Ellen's business cards also read "unhealthy love of baseball" because she's got more than standard fandom, which is why you can also find Ellen talking about baseball on MLB Network, on podcasts, and in articles on Baseball Prospectus.

2 p.m. Phillip B. Williams (Ours)

Phillip B. Williams is an award-winning poet. His debut novel, Ours, is an epic about the spiritual costs of freedom that demands fierce protection. Set over the course of four decades and steeped in a rich tradition of American literature informed by Black surrealism, mythology, and spirituality, Ours is a stunning exploration of the possibilities and limitations of love and freedom.

3 p.m. Adelle Waldman (Help Wanted)

Adelle Waldman is the author of the novels Help Wanted and The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., which was published by Henry Holt in 2013 and was named one of that year’s best books by The New Yorker, The Economist, The New Republic, NPR, Slate, and others. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter.